Courtship Rituals
by Kaeru Soyokaze
Summary: Love is new enough to Fuyuki Shido. But how does a Beast Master go about courting a prodigy, anyway? For one, don't ask the animals...ShidoMadoka oneshot.


Kia has decided to be interesting and try something new. For she has seen Get Backers and loves the cuteness that is Shido/Madoka. And so I decided to write a short one-shot on them, their relationship, and the fact that poor, poor Shido will never get a moment's peace from his furry friends or understand some courtship rituals.

That said, I do not own Get Backers and if I did, I'd so be endorsing more hilarious episodes like episode 39.

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Love. It was a word rarely used among the stern presence of Fuyuki Shido, the beast master and one of the Four Kings of Mugenjou. He himself preferred not to speak the word, because he felt it led to…complexities. He was solitary and he only needed to be surrounded by his animals to be at peace. After all, humans were trivial and foolish; they didn't listen to the creatures around them and went about their business with nary a thought or care for anyone but themselves. Midou Ban came to mind more than once.

But Shido wasn't here to think about Midou Ban. As far as he was concerned, that snake-eyed bastard didn't even _deserve_ a place in his thoughts. He was here to think about love, as crazy as that sounded, and the one who had caused him to believe in it. She of the sweet smile and the gentle eyes. The violinist prodigy, Otowa Madoka.

He wasn't sure how it had happened, although he kept reliving their first encounter in his mind. When you thought about it, most relationships did NOT start out with the two potential lovers on opposing sides in a dark room filled with violins and a gentle, singing wind. His orders had been to guard the Stradivarius and to keep the retrieval service from taking it. He hadn't expected a petite dark-haired blind girl to be there and, before he could stop himself, he had handed her a violin and asked her to play it for him. And she hadn't stared at him oddly with those eyes that saw nothing and everything all at once. She hadn't whimpered in fear or thrown something at him like most girls would have done. No, Madoka had simply smiled and played for him.

For the first time in his life, Fuyuki Shido had his breath stolen away. It was only when she stopped playing that the spell was broken and his heart continued its now slightly-erratic beating. He couldn't understand it. She had no idea as to whether he was friend or foe…whether he wished to help her or do her harm, and yet the entrancing melody her talented fingers produced was solely for her audience: him. She'd had no reason to honor his gruff request, but she had done it nonetheless and Shido felt the first stirrings of something that he'd never thought possible.

"No, it _wasn't_ indigestion," he replied to the snide comments of a crow perched on a branch overhead. "It was sudden, but it wasn't painful." It had been love and it had only grown during the time he stayed at her house. It was still growing, threatening to fill him up until he could no longer concentrate on anything else but Madoka and her music.

The crow and several sparrows reminded him that he should probably act on his feelings. After all, he'd beenstaying with herfor so long and Madoka remained oblivious of his feelings for her. And besides, that was what mating rituals were for, right?

Shido considered the pros and cons of this. He knew of many rituals, but most of them were not fit for public conduct. He couldn't very well jump in the pond and blow bubbles like male crocodiles did. For one, Madoka would most likely think he was drowning and that would shatter any possible romantic notions for either of them. He could sing to her like a gibbon, but they all knew that Shido couldn't sing and any attempts to do so would probably just make poor Madoka not only blind, but deaf as well. His reptile friends used flashy tactics to impress their lady loves, but Madoka could not see and he didn't wish to fight off other males like hummingbirds did. If the snake bastard took an interest in her, then he'd gladly beat him into a bloody pulp, but he was sure Madoka wouldn't appreciate it.

And there was no way in hell that he'd hump her leg, the way Mozart claimed was the way to a lady's heart (until he had been duly neutered).

That left human courtship which, if anything, was even worse than animalistic rituals. They, at least, were forward. The humans he knew were not. Upon several silent observations, he had learned that Ban either groped females or got into good-natured banter with them, like his arguments with Himiko. Of course, there were the times that they truly WERE pissed at each other and then Paul would try to break them up before the Honky Tonk went up in flames.

Shido had already come to the conclusion that fighting was not the answer…or, at least, not his answer, for he had heard from Hevn that placid little Madoka had once given the family jewels of Hishiki Ryuudo a good, hard kick just for messing with Ginji. It made him cringe, just thinking about it. No, fighting was definitely out. And so was groping. That had been out the moment it crossed his mind.

As for Amano Ginji, former leader of the VOLTS…his form of affection was more endearing. He hugged people and followed those he liked around like a lost puppy. And he just naturally became more exuberant around a certain high-school waitress, squealing her name every time she gave him tidbits to eat and smiling in a way that brought an even bigger smile to her face. He was always swearing to protect her whenever bad things happened. And whenever he hugged her, Shido was sure one or two of her ribs would snap. Was being openly affectionate and gallant an option for him?

The response he got from his animal friends was less than supportive.

_Oh, Madoka-chaaaan, let me take you up in my big, strong arms and carry you away! I love you, my sweet little dewdrop!_ screeched the crow that seemed hell-bent on torturing the man today.

_If you were **that **corny and wimpy, do you think we'd actually LISTEN to you?_ The lion pointed out, sprawled out beside Shido underneath the sun-studded canopy of the tree.

_It's not your style,_ a squirrel agreed. _You're more like the guy who stands there and stammers out weird stuff. You couldn't say a romantic thing to save your life._

Shido bristled. "I could if I felt like it."

The stares the animals turned on him were all very amused.

_Pansy,_ one of the larger dogs sniffed, lowering his head to rest on his paws.

"I'm suddenly in need of a good FUR COAT," the beast master growled.

Silence. Except for the birds and the reptiles, all of whom gloated that they didn't HAVE fur and so were safe from Shido's meaningless threats.

_Okay, so who says you have to be endearingly romantic?_ A cat spoke up. _You could always just HUG her, you know. She won't bite_.

_She just kicks,_ Mozart said knowingly, ambling towards them with his mistress in tow.

"Hello, Shido-san." Madoka inclined her head with a warm smile, carefully sitting down beside him.

"Did you have a good rehearsal?" He inquired, doing his best to ignore the cheerful encouragement from the furred, feathered and scaled peanut gallery.

The violinist nodded. "It wasn't too bad…have you been out here long?"

They made small-talk while the animals moaned and groaned about the lack of action. They were even more disappointed when the two lapsed into a contented silence, a thing that could very well be considered awkward if they weren't so comfortable with each other. These were the moments that Shido enjoyed most, except for the times that he stood outside Madoka's window at night and listened to the music filtering through, resounding within him as if she were the violin and he was the melody she was diligently producing from her heart.

And then, his hand moved. It slowly inched across the grass towards Madoka's own hand, and the animals erupted into a cacophony of shrieks, howls, and other forms of goading.

_Do it, do it, do it!_ The crows chorused raucously.

_Hug her!_ The first dog barked.

Sweat broke out on Shido's forehead and he glared daggers at them all. Dammit, couldn't they see how _trying_ this was? Excruciatingly slow, he raised his hand, holding it at the level of Madoka's peaceful eyes and wondering if he could curve it around her shoulders without her protesting.

Closer…closer…

"Shido-san?" The girl turned her head slightly, concern evident in her tone. "Are you all right?" His breathing was more ragged than usual and nervous warmth was emanating from his body like a heat lamp.

With a heavy sigh, Shido steeled himself--and dropped his hand so that it landed on top of hers. "Sorry," he muttered, a dark flush of red spreading along his tanned cheeks.

At the new weight, Madoka tensed for a moment. Then, realizing what it was, she tentatively turned her hand over so that her palm could meet his and their fingers intertwined. She gave him a gentle smile, her own face turning rather pink.

"Thank you…Shido-san." And she daringly rested her head against his broad shoulder, scarcely breathing as she waited for his reaction.

Shido froze, but let her stay there, even she had drifted off into a peaceful somnolence. He could only be thankful that his friends weren't--

_Can you feel…the looooove tonight?_

_Look at him, he's BLUSHING. Awwww, how cute!_

_You'd better name your first kid after me._

_Who in their right mind would name their kid Schnookums?_

_Oh, just shut up and let them be._

Love. Just because it was a word rarely used in Shido's presence didn't mean that he was immune to it. Madoka had shown him that and he couldn't be more grateful to her for that.

Unfortunately, being in love didn't mean that Shido still couldn't get revenge, so none of the commentators got dinner that night.

**_OOC---_**

Ahaha…who says every story has to have a plot? Please be nice, for it's my first time writing Shido and Madoka, so I'm a little worried that I screwed something up. If I did, feel free to let me know and just drop me a review so I know that I didn't kill their characters entirely.

Thank you!


End file.
